Commission moves toward opening more opportunities to take hogs, coyotes

Rule is planned to allow night hunting at night with lights on private lands

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission plans to allow hunters to take wild hogs and coyotes at night, with lights, on public lands.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission took a step toward implementing a rule Thursday that allows for the taking of coyotes and feral swine by hunting on private lands at night with a light.

The rule would also allow the hunting of feral swine and coyotes on public lands from ½ hour after sunset to ½ before sunrise with a light by permit only. Night hunting is one means of controlling localized populations of coyotes and feral swine, both of which are non-native to North Carolina and destructive to the landscape.

The new regulations are year-round, seven days a week. Hunting on Sundays is allowed only on private lands with archery equipment.

The new regulations are scheduled to take effect August 1, 2012 pending final approval by the Rules Review Commission. Currently, there is no closed season on either species, but hunting them at night is not allowed except by permit for feral swine.